Bridging the gap between intent & interpretation: Enhancing survey questions on maternal & child nutrition intervention coverage through cognitive interviewing in India
Objectives: Designing survey questions that clearly and precisely communicate the question's intent and elicit responses based on the intended interpretation is critical but often undervalued. We used cognitive interviewing to qualitatively assess respondents’ interpretation and responses to questio...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Abstract |
| Language: | Inglés |
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American Society for Nutrition
2021
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142419 |
| _version_ | 1855532020849967104 |
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| author | Ashok, Sattvika Kim, Sunny S. Avula, Rasmi Heidkamp, Rebecca A. Munos, Melinda K. Menon, Purnima |
| author_browse | Ashok, Sattvika Avula, Rasmi Heidkamp, Rebecca A. Kim, Sunny S. Menon, Purnima Munos, Melinda K. |
| author_facet | Ashok, Sattvika Kim, Sunny S. Avula, Rasmi Heidkamp, Rebecca A. Munos, Melinda K. Menon, Purnima |
| author_sort | Ashok, Sattvika |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Objectives: Designing survey questions that clearly and precisely communicate the question's intent and elicit responses based on the intended interpretation is critical but often undervalued. We used cognitive interviewing to qualitatively assess respondents’ interpretation and responses to questions pertaining to maternal and child nutrition intervention coverage. Methods: We conducted interviews with mothers (N = 21) with children less than one year in Madhya Pradesh, India, to cognitively test 25 survey questions. Each question was followed by probes to capture information on four cognitive stages - comprehension, retrieval, judgement, and response. Interviews were recorded and notes were taken on verbal and non-verbal cues. Data were analyzed for common and unique patterns across the survey questions within the cognitive domains and grouped into challenges. Results: We identified four types of cognitive challenges: 1) Poor retention of multiple concepts in long questions: difficulty in comprehending and retaining questions with three or more key concepts; 2) Temporal confusion: difficulty in conceptualizing recall periods such as “in the last 6 months” as compared to life stages such as pregnancy; 3) Misinterpretation of concepts: misinterpretation of the information being asked; meaning of certain terms such as “animal-source foods” was considered as referring to meat products only and not milk and eggs; scope of intervention using the phrase “talk with you” in referring to counseling was interpreted in different ways by respondents; and 4) Poor understanding of technical terms: difficulty in understanding even commonly-used technical words such as “breastfeeding” and “antenatal care” requiring the use of plain and simple alternative language. Conclusions: Findings from this study will be useful for stakeholders involved in survey design and implementation, especially those conducting large-scale household surveys to improve coverage data of essential nutrition interventions, which is critical for actions |
| format | Abstract |
| id | CGSpace142419 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publishDateRange | 2021 |
| publishDateSort | 2021 |
| publisher | American Society for Nutrition |
| publisherStr | American Society for Nutrition |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1424192025-02-24T06:48:06Z Bridging the gap between intent & interpretation: Enhancing survey questions on maternal & child nutrition intervention coverage through cognitive interviewing in India Ashok, Sattvika Kim, Sunny S. Avula, Rasmi Heidkamp, Rebecca A. Munos, Melinda K. Menon, Purnima child nutrition surveys interviews nutrition maternal nutrition women Objectives: Designing survey questions that clearly and precisely communicate the question's intent and elicit responses based on the intended interpretation is critical but often undervalued. We used cognitive interviewing to qualitatively assess respondents’ interpretation and responses to questions pertaining to maternal and child nutrition intervention coverage. Methods: We conducted interviews with mothers (N = 21) with children less than one year in Madhya Pradesh, India, to cognitively test 25 survey questions. Each question was followed by probes to capture information on four cognitive stages - comprehension, retrieval, judgement, and response. Interviews were recorded and notes were taken on verbal and non-verbal cues. Data were analyzed for common and unique patterns across the survey questions within the cognitive domains and grouped into challenges. Results: We identified four types of cognitive challenges: 1) Poor retention of multiple concepts in long questions: difficulty in comprehending and retaining questions with three or more key concepts; 2) Temporal confusion: difficulty in conceptualizing recall periods such as “in the last 6 months” as compared to life stages such as pregnancy; 3) Misinterpretation of concepts: misinterpretation of the information being asked; meaning of certain terms such as “animal-source foods” was considered as referring to meat products only and not milk and eggs; scope of intervention using the phrase “talk with you” in referring to counseling was interpreted in different ways by respondents; and 4) Poor understanding of technical terms: difficulty in understanding even commonly-used technical words such as “breastfeeding” and “antenatal care” requiring the use of plain and simple alternative language. Conclusions: Findings from this study will be useful for stakeholders involved in survey design and implementation, especially those conducting large-scale household surveys to improve coverage data of essential nutrition interventions, which is critical for actions 2021-06-17 2024-05-22T12:10:28Z 2024-05-22T12:10:28Z Abstract https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142419 en https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.13248 Open Access American Society for Nutrition Ashok, Sattvika; Kim, Sunny S.; Avula, Rasmi; Heidkamp, Rebecca A.; Munos, Melinda K.; and Menon, Purnima. 2021. Bridging the gap between intent & interpretation: Enhancing survey questions on maternal & child nutrition intervention coverage through cognitive interviewing in India. Current Developments in Nutrition 5(Supplement 2): 869. https://doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzab048_004 |
| spellingShingle | child nutrition surveys interviews nutrition maternal nutrition women Ashok, Sattvika Kim, Sunny S. Avula, Rasmi Heidkamp, Rebecca A. Munos, Melinda K. Menon, Purnima Bridging the gap between intent & interpretation: Enhancing survey questions on maternal & child nutrition intervention coverage through cognitive interviewing in India |
| title | Bridging the gap between intent & interpretation: Enhancing survey questions on maternal & child nutrition intervention coverage through cognitive interviewing in India |
| title_full | Bridging the gap between intent & interpretation: Enhancing survey questions on maternal & child nutrition intervention coverage through cognitive interviewing in India |
| title_fullStr | Bridging the gap between intent & interpretation: Enhancing survey questions on maternal & child nutrition intervention coverage through cognitive interviewing in India |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bridging the gap between intent & interpretation: Enhancing survey questions on maternal & child nutrition intervention coverage through cognitive interviewing in India |
| title_short | Bridging the gap between intent & interpretation: Enhancing survey questions on maternal & child nutrition intervention coverage through cognitive interviewing in India |
| title_sort | bridging the gap between intent interpretation enhancing survey questions on maternal child nutrition intervention coverage through cognitive interviewing in india |
| topic | child nutrition surveys interviews nutrition maternal nutrition women |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142419 |
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